Still and all, why bother? Here's my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone. --Vonnegut

Monday, May 23, 2005

Quote of the day

There were a lot of conditions for love and affection and continued membership, And they were serious, and they were ludicrous. It was, "You don't wear a yarmulke you can get out. You intermarry, we sit Shiva for you. You eat non-kosher and our children are not allowed to hang out with you." --Shalom Auslander, interview.

Not all Orthodox communities are so rigid. All of the ones I've seen, however, have some sort of automatic immune response* which pushes out the less religious or the differently religious. Non-Orthodox relatives (including children) are not discussed, and when they visit, are hidden away or coerced into conforming.